Court Rules for People over Politicians

Miami - This morning Federal Judge Ursula Ungaro threw out a suit that attempted to hold FairDistricts Amendment 6 unconstitutional. The Florida House of Representatives and two members of Congress, Corinne Brown and Mario Diaz Balart brought the case in a blatant attempt to avoid having to follow the fairness standards for redistricting passed by 63% of Florida voters last November.

The Florida NAACP, the ACLU and Democracia, Inc. all joined the suit in defense of the amendments.

Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU said: “I wish that every person in Florida could have been in the courtroom today. What they would have heard is a startling attempt by the leadership of the legislature and two members of Congress to eviscerate the power of the people to regulate their own legislature. The decision today upholds the clear will of the people; the fair districting process can now proceed.”

Adora Obi Nweze, Florida NAACP President said, “We are truly gratified that the court ruled as it did and that the ruling came so expeditiously. The NAACP is pleased that redistricting will now proceed according to the new mandates in our Florida Constitution.”

Deirdre Macnab, president of the Florida League of Women Voters said, "Today's decisive ruling makes it clear that this lawsuit was a waste of taxpayer money. The League of Women Voters of Florida urges lawmakers to stop fighting the will of the people. It is time to cease litigation and get to work on the implementation of Amendments 5 and 6."

Matthew McClellan, Chair of the Board of Directors, Democracia Inc. added, "We are very pleased that the court upheld the will of 63% of Florida's voters. We now urge the Florida Legislature to quickly move to draw districts that follow the new fairness standards so there is ample time for voters to understand changes to their districts prior to Election Day."

Legal battle over state Senate districts coming to an end

01/20/2016

TALLAHASSEE - A contentious battle over Florida state senate districts is coming to an end. read more »

Senate won't appeal redistricting ruling

01/20/2016

Clearing the way for elections later this year with a map that could boost Democrats' numbers in the Senate, Republican leaders decided Wednesday not to appeal a Leon County judge's ruling setting districts for the chamber's 40 seats. read more »

Florida Senate won't appeal ruling on new districts

01/20/2016

TALLAHASSEE — Senate leaders said Wednesday that they will not appeal last month's court ruling that sided with a voters' coalition in setting new district boundaries. read more »

Florida Legislature won't appeal redistricting ruling

01/20/2016

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Legislature is giving up the fight and will not contest a court ruling that redraws all of the state's 40 state senate districts for the 2016 election cycle. read more »

For a brief moment last week it appeared the Florida Legislature had come to its senses and was willing to accept a judge's ruling on the boundaries for new state Senate districts. read more »

Renumbering state Senate districts triggers political scramble

01/10/2016

TALLAHASSEE — It may sound like a simple process, but the Florida Senate's random renumbering of all its districts statewide Tuesday touched off a series of complicated twists that one key lawmaker said only adds more chaos to a continuing redistricting saga. read more »